Mayank Agarwal Called Ashwin in Disguise for leaving the crease before bowler released ball

The term 'Mankading' has unfortunately come back to life ever since the Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler incident incident in an Indian Premier League game between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals . While many condemn this act, citing the 'spirit of the game', others believe that there was no harm in Ashwin's actions since they were well within the laws of the game.

This incident made the fans more vigilant of what is happening on the cricket field and especially at the non-striker end. Keeping an eye under the umpire's nose, a fan caught something similar, which can yet another controversy on Wednesday night as KXIP locked horns with the Kolkata Knightriders at the Eden Gardens.

On the receiving end this time was Ashwin's teammate, Mayank Agarwal, despite being in prolific form since the Australian tour and scoring a wonderful 50,committed the same mistake as Buttler, by leaving the crease before the bowler released the ball. Fortunately though, no one on the field paid much heed to it this time.

The incident came into sight when the young Sarfaraz Khan was caught behind by Dinesh Karthik off Andre Rusell's bowling. To make sure that Russell was not overstepping, the on-field umpire went upstairs to be double sure. While having a look at the Jamaican's front-foot, fans noticed that Agarwal had left the crease before Russell released the ball.

Look at where the non striker - Mayank Agarwal - is at the time of release.

Earlier bowlers were criticised for committing such unsporting acts, but now people believe that even the batsmen should be held responsible for taking undue advantage of an ethical stance.

This came after the Marylebone Cricket Committee (MCC) slammed Ashwin stating that though he had no responsibility to warn the batsman, what he did was not in the 'spirit of the game'. “The decision given on the field, was dependent on the match officials' interpretation of the law 41.16: Non-striker leaving his/her ground early,” said MCC in their statement.

They further added, “This law is essential. Without it, non-strikers could back up at liberty, several yards down the pitch and a law is needed to prevent such action. The crux of the issue is when the non-striker can safely leave his/her ground, and what the bowler can do to effect this form of dismissal without courting controversy.”

Now when everything is clear on the basis of rules and regulations, it solely depends on how we want to interpret it. Play it by the rules or by the spirit of the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.